England's vice-captain, Ollie Pope, shared a practical view on the pitches for the upcoming five-match Test series in India, which is set to get underway on January 25 in Hyderabad.
Pope stated that the England cricket team would not complain if India decided to prepare pitches favoring spin right from the beginning of the much-anticipated Test series.
He highlighted that the host country has the responsibility for preparing the pitches, and they have the right to prepare the surfaces that best match their players' strengths. The 26-year-old batter admitted that the nature of pitches would likely be a significant talking point during the Test series.
Ollie Pope was quoted as saying by 'The Guardian': “There will be a lot of outside noise. And pitches can be a massive talking point. But you have to remember the two teams are playing on the exact same wicket, so we just need to be as well-equipped as we can.”
He added, “In England, we might leave more grass on the pitch to suit our amazing seamers, so it's no surprise if India do the same to suit their spinners.”
Speaking about the low-scoring Test matches, Pope said: “I actually think low-scoring Test matches (where the ball has the edge over the bat) are pretty amazing to watch. I saw a fair bit of South Africa versus India and it was great: guys scoring seriously tough runs and the ball flying through.
The scores could be similar in India but if the pitches spin from ball one we won't be complaining. It's about finding a method to combat it.”
Recalling England’s last tour of India when his 34 was his highest score, the vice-captain said: “We had some young guys on that tour. Myself, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes – it was our first India tour and we were probably taken by surprise when it turned from ball one (after the first Test). But if we had read the pitch well enough and quickly enough.”
England batter further added, “I look at the guys who were most successful, Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant, they didn't rotate strike a huge amount. That's tough to do on those pitches, you can't just work spin around like in England. You need a really solid defence but also four and six options, to hit the spinners off their length.”
On the challenges while playing in India, Pope said: “The danger ball last time was the one that went straight on – the ones that spun almost spun too much.”
He signed off by saying, “It's like in England when the (seaming) ball goes past your outside edge, you play it well with soft hands or miss it. It's a case of being at peace with being beaten – that's almost a win if you're covering (lbw and bowled).”
(With PTI Inputs)
